


'You don't choose your family' is a Mikaelson's deposited mark (most likely Kol's but who's judging?)

by no_nutcracker



Category: Teen Wolf (TV), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Stiles Stilinski is a Mikaelson, Stiles's birth name is Mietek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:42:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28758270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/no_nutcracker/pseuds/no_nutcracker
Summary: Mikael is a hard man. He is an even harder father. He pushes and pushes and nothing his children do is ever enough.However, Mikael is not hard all the time. He has his moments. And most of all, he has his favorites.
Relationships: Mikaelson Family & Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 22
Kudos: 152





	1. A brief history

Mikael is a hard man. He is an even harder father. He pushes and pushes and nothing his children do is ever enough.

(but his children love him anyway. they're children, they're bound to love him even when they fear his wrath and bitter disappointment. his reactions only make them want to please him more. love is a twisted thing, they learn that lesson at their father's knee.)

However, Mikael is not hard all the time. He has his moments. And most of all, he has his _favorites_.

*

Finn is his mother's son from the get go.

Elijah is his father's pride.

If it's common knowledge that Kol is the trouble maker of the family and that he enjoys _magic_ , Niklaus is the true black sheep of the family. Mikael only frowns at Kol when the boy makes a fool of himself and spends too much time around coy, giggling girls. The glimmer of loathing in his pupils, the curl of disgust on his lips are solely reserved for Niklaus .

(It will take them years and a devastating curse to understand the reason why.)

Rebekah is the sole girl of the family.

Henrik is the baby.

Mietek... Mietek is _special_.

*

Mietek is only a year younger that Rebekah, two years older that Henrik, and looks a lot like Kol.

He is mischievous in nature (and soon everyone in the village calls him Mischief), bright and endlessly curious. Mikael has lost count of how many times the boy stumbled upon him after running to him, an avid question on his tongue.

Mikael would be annoyed were it any of his other children, even Elijah. Elijah even more than the rest as the boy is the one Mikael rests all his ambitions on. He refuses to imagine his proud pupil acting nothing less that poised and dignified. Nothing like ~~Niklaus~~. Yet, Mikael accepts such a behaviour from Mietek. Not because his child is still young: Henrik is even younger than he is and such conduct would earn him a disapproving frown from his father. But because Mikael is fond of him.

Elijah is the proud glimmer in Mikael's eyes.

Mietek has his love.

*

Mikael kills Mietek first.

He kills his boy in his sleep. So he can feel no fear. So he does not look at him with hurt and betrayal.

Yet, when Mietek wakes up, he looks at his father with the very same feelings Mikael had dreaded to see. 

'How could you do this, papa?'

How could he do this, indeed. Mikael had only wanted to protect his children, the way he had not been able to with Henrik. _It is all Niklaus's fault. Look at what that worthless boy did!_ Mikael had to do something.

Now, his children are all monsters.

*

If there is one member of the family Klaus never daggered, it was Mietek.

All the siblings have a reason why;

Rebekah believes in their oath of standing together _always and forever_ (and keeps on forgetting Mietek had not taken the oath with Niklaus, 'lijah and her) and thinks Klaus's refusal to stab her kid brother is a proof of it strength.

Whenever she loses her hope, the thought of her little brother makes her hurt lessen.

Finn remembers the children they used to be. He remembers how Mietek used to look at Klaus. Pensive and shrewd. And Finn is reminded of all the times their father would snap at Niklaus and how his brother, in rare bouts of recklesness, would raise his head up and prepare to fight back.

How Mietek would bounce in between them and stole their father's attention with a beam and a question.

He does not think he is the only one to remember that Mietek did a better job at protecting Niklaus than any of his elder brothers did.

Elijah thinks Klaus has found an anchor in his mindless rage. Klaus is belligerent, vengeful, merciless. His brother loves nothing more than to hurt others and make them wish for a salvation that will never come. Elijah has seen the worst of his brother and nothing he does seems to bring the boy he grew up with back.

Klaus is different with Mietek. He is not Nik (he no longer is) but he is an odd amalgation of Nik and Klaus. He is less on edge. He can take Kol's dubious jests with a laugh. He reluctantly allows Rebekah to court and be courted, even when he would rather rip her lovers' head. He bears Finn's Finness. He actually listens to Elijah. Don't be mistaken, Niklaus is still very much The Scourge of the Supernatural. However, when Mietek is here he is not blinded by his rage. Blood baths and massacres are not a daily occurence. When he is upset and about to lose it, he does not tear anyone apart. He take a glance at their brother and throws the culprit out and isolates himself to draw and paint for hours.

Mietek brings his brother peace. 

(And maybe Elijah is envious of him for it.)

Kol keeps popping out different theories; Mischief is not a stick in the mud like Elijah and Nik actually enjoy his company. Mischief is his favorite dead/undead being. Mischief still has that baby face the villagers had continued to coo over even when the boy turned sixteen -and not even Niklaus could bear to see his pretty face disfigured by death. Mischief has a dagger of his own and would stab Nik with it if he dared to think of getting him a coffin. Mischief is the Hybrid's whisperer and can calm his beastly instincts. Mischief knows how to keep out of Klaus' way when he's on a rampage. Mischief gifts him baby sheeps to shred as a nightly ritual, as one would lull a child to sleep. Mischief is smarter than them. 

In truth, Kol does not care what his younger brother does. As long as Mischief keeps Klaus from daggering them for their 'protection' -what a load of shit- and fighting for them to be awoken, he can do whatever. 

Klaus keeps harping that he does not dagger Mischief because is never annoying, unlike the rest of them. 

Mietek huffs and rolls his eyes whenever the subject is brought.

(Mischief personally thinks it is because he was the only one their father ever loved and, even after he started hunting them like prey, Nik won't stop looking for his approval. But father is not here. So Nik searches for it through Mischief.)

(It is not the reason why. It used to play a part in Nik's reasoning. But truthfully, after a few centuries and going from terrified Nik to terrifying Klaus, that reasoning only made him want to stab his little brother more than the rest of his siblings. Klaus always kept from doing so because he knew he did not have to protect Mischief from Mikael, as Mikael would never hurt him.

And he never had to fear his brother would betray them to join their father. Mietek loves his father, but Mischief loves his siblings more.)

*

There is a time where they are together again. All of them, even Finn.

And it feels glorious to him.

Rebekah laughs like he has not heard her in a long time. Kol is teaching baby witches magic instead of burying himself neck deep in bloody massacres. Elijah is not preaching nor judging. Finn is not glaring at them nor looking despondently at the nearest window to throw himself through.

Klaus is Nik again.

And it is glorious and so much like how his family used to be. Mischief wants to weep.

Then it ends, like it always does. Good things never last for the Mikaelsons. Though this time, it is not their father's doing.

Finn and Klaus are fighting again.

Klaus gets frustrated and daggers him.

Kol has enough and leaves, his flock of witches following him. Rebekah distracts herself from the ensuing tension and fancies herself in love with a boy she recently met. She runs away with her paramour before Klaus can rip his heart out. Elijah gives tedious sermons before he gets tired of being ignored by Klaus and takes his leave as well. Probably to go save someone else than his siblings.

Mischief...

Mischief is tired. Not the kind the humans are, like they could sleep while still standing. The deep bones kind, the weary one that makes him long for oblivion.

He has tried. The gods know he has tried. Yet, nothing he does is ever enough to keep this stupid family afloat. Not when he is the only one actually working for it.

('lijah does not count. All he wants is to save Nik. It's like the whole family could burn (except maybe Bekah) and all would be well as long as Nik is safe and on his way to 'redemption'.)

He had enough of trying. 

He is done.

When Klaus daggers Finn again and everyone leaves, when Klaus refuses to awaken their older brother, Mietek gives up.

'You keep on talking about father like he is the worst but... Look at you, Nik. You are just like him now.'

Klaus Mikaelson loses it.

He takes another dagger...

_...and the rest is history._

*

If there is one member of the family Niklaus never daggered, it was Mietek.

And then Niklaus did it. And their siblings really started to get afraid.

Elijah tries to tamper Rebekah and Kol's worry, but does a poor job. How could he comfort his younger siblings with (meaningless) reassurances when he does not even know where Mietek's body is? 

Niklaus always kept their bodies in coffins closed to him. 'Safe.' 'Protected.' Yet, Elijah only hears of one coffin, his elder brother's. Not two.

(He gets worried as well.)

*

Klaus Mikaelson loses it.

He takes another dagger...

_and throws it at his brother's feet._

'Leave,' he wants to spit. To his shame, the words only leave his mouth as a whisper.

~~Mischief~~ Mietek looks at him impassively. 'Gladly,' he says confidently.

~~His brother~~ Mietek has never looked at him like that. As if he was nothing worth his time ~~like father used to~~. 

Klaus wants to rekindle the anger he felt in his earlier spat with Finn. How dare that boy compare him to their father? Can't he understand that all he is doing is to keep their family safe? How dare little Mietek look at him like Mikael would, as if he was fecal matter on his shoes. **He owes him everything!**

But Klaus is spent. 

If there was one sibling who always stood by him, it was Mischief. 

Not Elijah who swore to stay by his side no matter what but keeps on disapproving of his every move and expects him to 'be better.' Not Rebekah who is always prattling about family and 'staying together' but keeps on running away to make her own family. Not Kol who cares no wit about any of them. Certainly not Finn who dreams of joining their mother in the otherworld.

Mischief who always stood by him against Mikael when they were children. Mischief who was the lone reason Klaus avoided a physical 'treatment' from Mikael. Mischief who found him after his first turn as a werewolf. Mischief who kept the truth about their mother's death a secret. 

Mischief who rarely left his side during the following centuries, who searched and found ways for him to express his fury and hurt at his curse other than in ripping everything apart, _who trusts Klaus to keep him safe_. Mischief who acts as an anchor in his rage. Mischief who he trusts completely.

Mischief who still loves Mikael after all those centuries but keeps putting Klaus above him.

And now he is staring at Klaus like everything they shared for centuries means nothing. 

And he leaves.

*

Niklaus does not tell anyone that his brother is roaming the world alive and not lying at the bottom of a lake with a dagger in his chest.

If they have not learned that Mischief is untouchable, then they don't know the two them at all.

*

His brother has been gone for less than two months when Klaus demands each of his witches search for him.

*

Mikael finds his younger son alive and alone. Without his siblings in attendance.

He takes a mental painting of this moment.

He leaves and goes on to search for his other beasts of children.

He will have all the time to take Mietek down after he has taken them out.

(He does not think he could ever succeed in killing Mietek. This boy will always be Mikael's beloved child.)

*

Katerina runs and runs and runs. 

Even in her frightened dash across the lands, she is careful not to leave a trail of bodies in her wake. Katerina learns fast not to kill her preys, working hard to keep them alive and in a daze instead of dead on the grounds.

She is constantly hungry but fear serves as a good restraint.

She runs and runs and keeps running, desperately wishing Klaus will not catch her.

Someone else catches her instead. A man with too serious eyes and a smirk.

*

A century after the doppleganger failure, his fury has slightly abetted, even if his chase of the little betrayer will never stop. As a consequence Klaus has decided to reunite his family. 

Elijah has not left his side, even if Klaus's hand tingled for a long time with the need to dagger him after Katerina first escaped. Klaus wakes Rebekah, and at his brother's insistence, Kol. He leaves them in Elijah's care, as he does not feel up to coddle them.

He demands his witches extend their search for his youngest brother but they come back empty handed once again. It does not come as a surprise. Ever since his departure, Mischief has not left any trace of his existence. Klaus figures waking his oldest brother from his two-centuries long sleep will bring him back.

Predictably, Finn wakes up cranky and broods for the following weeks.

Contrary to what he expected, Mischief does not come back to them.

*

Kol sees Mischief once. 

His brother is standing on the other side of a ballroom and exchanging pleasantries with a dark haired woman who has her back facing Kol.

Kol hesitates between going over to his brother and letting him go. On one hand, he is reassured to know that whatever spat Klaus and he had, it did not end with Mischief daggered and abandonned somewhere. On the other hand, he is sure that Klaus would find out about their little brother's whereabouts if Kol dared to go to him. And while it usually would not stop him, Kol figures that if Mischief has yet to come grace the family with his presence, it must be of his own volition. He would probably be less than pleased if Klaus were to find him and brought him back home.

Kol knows more than anyone the hold Klaus has on each of them. While things might have been different for Mischief as he never seemed to mind Klaus' overbearingness, he has an inkling his baby brother does not wish to be underneath it just yet. And what sort of brother Kol would be if he were to deprieve his brother of some hard won freedom? 

Kol spends the rest of the evening hidden from view and listening on his brother's conversations.

He never tells Klaus of this encounter.

*

He writes to his brother once.

Mischief loves all his siblings. From Finn who is the oldest and whom he always looked up to. To Elijah who always offers comfort and advices and fits the big brother role perfectly. To Kol who is magic even after being turned a vampire, and mischievous and funny and his partner in crime. To Rebebah who gives the best hugs and still has dreams and hopes even when his own have been dashed -Rebekah whom he loves like a mother.

(To Henrik who he will always remember and miss.)

But Klaus. Mischief always loved him more that the rest. And he knows he should not, his 'aunt' Ayanna always told him that he should never love one sibling more than the rest, that he should love them all with equality. But Mischief can't help it. He loves Klaus more than the rest from the beginning. Maybe because their parents loved him less. Because he was a tar in father's sight and the result of a shameful affair for their mother. He loved him more because someone had to.

And he continued to do so because Klaus is different. 

Like him, Klaus knows what loneliness is. Like him, Klaus knows what hard won love is. Klaus understands and does not judge. Klaus sees beauty even in the most darkest places.

Klaus sees him.

Klaus always stays with him and never leaves him. 

Mischief loves him.

So, he writes to him. Writes that he misses him ~~that he is sorry~~ and that he will come back one day.

He does not leave an address for a response back.

*

She goes by Katherine now.

Lady Katherine Pierce of House of Thrombey/Castle/Du Valey/LongHorn/Hawks/Pembroke/Ashton/La Foy/... Many made up families for a made up lady. Katherine builds her reputation like she built herself: from nothing up to the glorious top.

They always eat up everything she feeds them. And in exchange she feeds on them.

For the first time, Katherine has the power. It is exhilarating.

'It won't last,' he comments.

Katherine pouts. It snaps her last suitor from his daze. She waves at him gently. He curtsies and leaves them, not without sending a scathing glare _his_ way. It makes her grin delightedly.

'Katherine,' he drawls.

Katherine holds back a huff for propriety's sake. She takes her fan and opens it up with a snap. The abrupt sound startles one of her maid. She glares at her. The girl pales and lowers her gaze.

'My lord?' she asks in a obnoxious tone.

She hates using those words with him. The fact that he hates hearing them does little to placate her.

'The attention. The awe. The adoration. It never lasts. You should be aware before it catches you by surprise.'

Katherine wants to snap at him. She knows full well that the best things in life have a finish date. If her father had not taught her that when taking her precious baby, his family certainly did. She wants to. Yet, she does not.

Mischief Mikaelson is the only member of that insane family worth a cent of her attention. And her trust. 

Mischief never brought her back to his family, to Klaus, like he should have. He did not killed her either nor tortured her for taking his brother's lone chance at breaking his curse. He did not chase her from his new found home. Instead, Mischief **gave** her a home.

When Katherine gets weary of travelling the world (read: when Klaus gets a sniff of her location and brings hell and fire on her), she goes to him. When Katherine gets tired of fooling around with pretty young men and women (read: when she feels a tinge of her old love for Elijah -the back stabbing traitor), she goes to him. When she thinks too fondly of her birthing village (read: when the loss of her baby gets too much), she goes to him.

Against her better judgement, Katherine trusts Mischief Mikaelson. You'd think she would have learn her lesson after her brief time with the Mikaelson family. Apparently, she's still learning.

'Are you listening to me?,' he asks, irritated.

Katherine smirks. If there is something that gets on Mischief's nerves, it's people ignoring him. For all that he warns her off attracting too much attention and gorging herself of it, that man sure likes to bath in it's glow.

'Yes, I am. However, I also heard you the last three hundreds times.' He huffs. She grins. 'I promised I would be careful, did not I?'

He gives her a reluctant nod.

*

Mikael sees his son more than once since the first encounter.

Mietek is always alone, none of his siblings in the vicinity. Mikael would be enraged by his brood's carelessness with their brother's safety if it did not assure him that their deviousness does not touch Mietek.

*

'You are going to leave a message to my son.'

The abomination, another one of his children' nefarious deeds, widen his eyes in terror and tries to break free. 'Please my lord, no. I could never escape Lord Klaus's fury.'

Mikael snarls and tightens his hold of the sneaveling snake. 'Not Niklaus,' he seethes. 'My youngest son.'

'Lord Kol?', the monstrusity inquires.

Mikael grits his teeth. 'No,' he growls. 'My youngest son,' he repeats. 'Mietek.'

The little beast gawks. 'Mietek? No one ever saw him. Everyone thinks him to be a myth.'

Felling more edgy after that statement, Mikael applies more pressure on his hold. The vampire visibly struggles to stay conscious. 'Tell my son the following message.' He closes on his prey and murmurs his message in its ear.

It finally slackens in his grasp. 'How will I now which one is your son, my lord?'

Mikael glares darkly at him. 'You will not. You only have to leave this message wherever you go. Mietek is bound to find it.'

*

Mischief finds the message everywhere he goes. It leaves him weary and as a consequence it leaves Katherine uneasy.

She does not like the feeling. She already has to stay aware of all her surroundings in fear of Klaus' little agents or his own presence. To have Mischief acting all stressed and two fingers from losing it is more than she agreed to settle on.

She snaps the neck of the last piecemouth they meet, grabs her companion's hand and embarks them on a boat for the farthest land.

*

'Come back home, son.'

Klaus razes the whole town after he learns of the message their father left Mischief.

His siblings keep a safe a distance between him and them, mindful of not crossing his path.

*

Mischief comes back to the continent when he hears rumors of New Orléans.

What he finds after days of traveling are the remnants of a great fire that his father started to destroy yet another thing Klaus has created. It is in times like this that he wonders how he can still love someone like Mikael. Then he remembers his papa's words and thinks that compared to Klaus he really has no right to whine.

He is nudging at a bit of fallen wood when he hears something that whips all thoughts of his father and Klaus and leaves him frozen to the core.

'Was it really what she wanted?,' one vampires asks another while dubiously looking at the ruined shops.

'Rebekah never knows what she wants.'

'She must have known,' the first vampire insists. 'He is not called the Destroyer for nothing. The proof is standing before our eyes. Or what's left of it.'

'It does not matter. She is no longer here. Neither of them is.'

Mietek does not hear the rest. His ears are filtering weird noise. His sight is blurring. His hands are clammy and his breath is harsh and loud. What's left of his heart is vibrating in his chest and craving to leave it. 

He runs away and only stops an unknown amount of time later in the middle of a road when his brittle legs can't support him anymore and send him crashing to the ground. 

_How could she?_

*

She never learns. She hates it. Moreso, she hates Mietek for being right yet again.

Katherine played with a pair of beautiful brothers in a small town village, in the home of their small town father. She attracted the citizens' attention like moths to a flame -she thrives on it, why should she stop?- and did not realized it was the hunter-kind and not the awed and lusted-one. But really. How was she to know the man knew about vampires _and_ how to kill them?

She leaves Mystic Falls behind with her pride in tatters and drags herself back to the smug bastard's home.

*

Mietek talks with his father for the first time in centuries in the nineteen twenties.

Apparently, his father just succedded in making Klaus and Bekah run for their lives.

'You must be pleased,' he comments flatly.

His papa smiles thinly. 

His father never used to smile at him like that. Mikael's lips would pull upward and form an awkward smile, as if his face was unused to the gesture. It always made Mietek proud because he was the only one who could put it on. Even his mother failed to make Mikael smile.

Now, the man is smiling sharkly at him. And Mietek finds it difficult to recognise him as the man he has called father for the last thousand years. He guesses that the love they have for each other is not enough to overcome centuries of agressive silence.

He looks away.

'Have you received my message?'

Mietek huffs a laugh. 'It was a little hard to miss.' He turns back to stare at him. 'Everywhere I got, a vampire would be waiting and singing it,' he mocks.

His papa ignores the sarcasm. 'I meant it,' he assures instead.

'I know,' he answers quietly.

His father's eyes sharpen. 'Then why did not you come?'

'Because I can not ignore the way you've hunted us down like animals. Nor can I forgive.'

His papa stares at him impassively. He does not try to argue that it's 'for their own good' because his siblings and he 'have turned into monsters' and killing them will only 'bring them salvation'. Mietek would never believe that crap, and Mikael knows it.

Mietek is fairly sure his father does not even believe it, nor that he ever did.

'I love you,' he ends.  
It is the last time he sees his father.

This memory will forever be burned in his mind and he'll make the conscious decision of 'forgetting' the part where he nearly added _but it's not enough_. Instead, he'll keep close to his heart the whispered 'and I, my son' that his papa left him with.


	2. The Mikaelsons are finally home

Klaus finally succeeds in breaking his mother's curse.

There is no word to describe what he feels.

(except _disappointment_ at his brother's continued absence).

*

They kill their father.

Enough said.

(Klaus wonders what Mietek would say about it. Then he remembers the message Mikael left his brother and chases this thought from his mind.)

*

Their mother comes back and the first thing she says is: 'where is your brother?' 

Klaus honestly does not know and it is not for a lack of trying. However even his best trackers and witches could not find Mischief. 

He is thrilled when his mother, who apparently kept on watching them from the great beyond to spy on them, admits that she does not know the answer either. The Great Witch Esther Mikaelson, _Great Creator of the Vampires_ , can not do something as simple as find her youngest child.

O, _sweet irony_. Even when his brother is gone, he keeps making his life easier.

*

'Who is Mietek?,' sweet Caroline asks.

Klaus pursues his lips and does not glare at her. 

'No one,' he wants to say.

'A mistake,' he should respond.

'Someone I lost,' he hears himself voice.

Caroline blinks her innocent eyes at him. She inclines her head and stares.

'Yes. I know the feeling.'

*

Mother is getting irritated. 

'The Ancient Ones allowed me to come back so I could finally put a stop to this sickness. So why do they refuse to show me where your brother is?!'

Finn stares placidly at his mother while she paces the lengths of the room. 'Can't we do the spell without him?'

'No, we can not. You all need to be together for it to work. And why would we do it without him anyway?'

Finn does not answer.

His silence sparks his mother's interest. She stops her pacing and glides towards him. 'Finn,' her sweet _hard_ voice calls him. 'You are not having doubts, are you?'

'No, mother.'

'Are you sure?,' she insists ~~forcefully~~ with all her motherly concern.

Finn gives her a curt nod. 'Yes, I am sure.' He clenches his jaw. 'It is only that.' Mietek was never _a monster like us_. 'It is Mietek,' he settles on. 'He is the youngest.'

The glow in his mother's fiery eyes soften. 'I know. And it is why we have to find him too. So your brother can find salvation like your siblings and you will.'

Finn nods. His mother always knows best.

*

Stiles loves Beacon Hills.

Well, that's a lie. No one loves Beacon Hills. Not when it was a boring town, and certainly not that it now is overrun by monsters.

Stiles loves the people in Beacon Hills. Mainly his pack. 

_And how Nik would laugh if he were to know his baby brother is part of a werewolf pack._

He loves Scott and his never ending optimism (and unrealistic view of the world) which never stops from clashing with Stiles' mikaelsoness. He loves Lydia with her non-nonsense attitude, her fierceness and her cinnamon-roll-heart. Lydia who **gets** him. He loves Derek with his hedgehog-spiked heart and grumpiness. He loves Malia with her bluntness and particular intelligence. He is fond of Kira who's the sweetest person he has ever met and successes in staying adorable even when she's shreding a berserker to pieces. And he cares for Liam who's a hot head and has anger control but who's a good kid.

He even enjoy creepy uncle Peter. After all, Stiles and Peter are _a lot_ alike.

He loves them and it's why telling them who he really is scares him so much. 

He is aware that Lydia already knows. That Peter knows. ~~That Allison knew~~. He has an inkling Derek knows as well and Malia suspects. So his secret is not a very guarded one yet revealing it still leaves him febrile. It is not that he thinks they will reject him. They won't. They're a pack. 

It is his **family** (it is always his family) with their shenanigans and the bloody history. His father. His siblings. And the fact that everytime he thinks about them, he hurts.

It was silly of him to think his pain would fade the longer he stayed away.

*

Peter is the one to tell him his father is dead.

(The real one, not the one who was a fatherless widow and welcomed him in his life with a heart too big for his body.)

Stiles _breaks_.

Peter hugs him. Peter Hale freaking hugs him.

(He allows it. Peter is a creep and he hurt Lydia but Peter is also pack.)

*

'You can not keep on moping. I refuse to see you mope for another day. Get up.'

Stiles does so without complaining, because it's Lydia and he is built to follow her every word. Strange how a thousand years of harden will crumble in the face of a petite strawberry blond haired baby banshee.

'Where are we going?'

'To pay our respects,' she affirms while searching through his dresser.

'What?'

'For your father. The insane and murderous one. From my point of view, he does not deserve anything from you. But you obviously still love him and I guess it is hard to stop loving someone after a thousand years. So. You and I are going on a side trip to pay your respects to your father. And then, we will go to the nearest bar to get hammered and share our sorrows about disappointing father figures.'

She turns and throws him a flannel shirt and jeans.

'Hurry up. We are leaving in ten minutes.'

*

A year prior, Katherine texted him: 'Do not come to Mystic Falls.' He listened and buried himself in Beacon Hills' supernatural mess. 

(Katherine never tells him about his father's death. He does not begrudge her for that.)

He is in Lydia's prius, riding towards his birthing place when his old friend sends him another text. 'REALLY do not come to Mystic Falls. Your mother is there.'

Stiles's mind stops working. 'Stop the car!,' he yells.

*

Elena Gilbert has a lot on her plate. First, the Originals bringing chaos in her town. Then the Original Witch making her appearance and planning to play happy family. Last but not least, said Original Witch planning to kill all of her children and using her blood to do so. 

Elena's grip on reality is threadbare. It only gets worse when Mietek Mikaelson knocks on her door.

'Call me Mischief,' he adds with a smirk.

The redhead at his side looks at her coldly. Her stare definitely translates as 'do not.' 

Elena calls for Stephan and Damon.

*

Stiles is unimpressed.

The Ripper is a mushy puppy. His brother has a face that's begging to be punched. Their behavior is worse. The Ripper has become a wet blanket. And all Stiles hears whenever his brother opens his mouth is an annoying blabber that he translates has pleas for a punch. Or to have his spleen removed.

'Why should we help you,' Dick Salvatore sneers.

Who said they needed help?

'I was not aware we would have to speak with your caveman. He is always like that?' Lydia simpers.

His friend is as unimpressed as him. Stiles does not need to look at her to know that Lydia is about this close to lose it and throw molotov cocktails around.

Dick looks at her from head to toe. He scoffs. 'Seriously? Hiding behind your doll? What is this: a rendition of Mean Girls?'

Lydia smiles. 'The doll,' she drawls, 'is a genius with an I.Q. of a hundred sixty.' The Mystic Falls's gang raise their eyebrows in surprise. Jerks. 'Also, you should be worried. You're a vampire. And I am a banshee,' she declares with flourish. 

The brothers startle, making the company rise in concern. Dick rushes towards them. Mietek meets him halfway and clamps a hand around his throat. One of the boys swears.

'If you want your heart to stay inside your body,' he says with a smile showing too much teeth, 'you will keep your hands off her.'

'You could just cut them off him,' Lydia imputs with studied carelessness.

The doppleganger pales.

'Or I could do that,' Stiles agrees pleasantly. He adds pressure on his chockhold. Dick tries to fight against him. It is useless. Stiles beams. 'In fact, what is stopping me from doing it now?'

'Me,' the doppleganger bravely (foolishly) butts in. 'I will not help you if you hurt him. If you hurt any of my friends.'

The girl stands with her head held high. But her voice trembles. Her body shakes. The poor girl is overrun by fear. 

_Did his mother really allied herself with_ that _?!_

Stiles looks around the room. Except for the Ripper, no one looks ready to defend Dick. The blond vampire wears a thin smile that she is trying to hide. The doppleganger's brother looks totally done. The blond quaterback is exasperated. The Bennet Witch is looking at Lydia in interest. It seems that only Dick's brother and the doppleganger are ready to fight for him. The rest could care less. 

'I do not need your help.' 

Elena Gilbert's eyes go wide. Stiles tightens his fist. Dick goes limp. He throws the body away. The Ripper runs to him. Cradles his body in his hands.

'I came to say goodbye to my father,' he announces. The blond vampire -Caroline, he thinks her name is- perks up at that. 'What my mother decides to do with us is not my concern.'

The Bennet witch frowns at him. 'You are not going to stop it?,' she asks dubiously.

Stiles shrugs. 'I could. I won't. I lived for a thousand years. One last day or one more millenia won't make a difference to me.'

'But your siblings?' Caroline looks from Lydia to him. 'Your friends? Won't it matter to them?'

' _The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways. I to die, you to live._ '

'Socrate,' Lydia whispers tenderly. Stiles looks at her, only to find her already staring at him with fondness in her eyes. 'You waited until now to show you could properly court a girl?'

Stiles grins. 

'I don't get it,' the doppleganger's brother says in irritation. 'If you are willing to die then why did you come to us? And what can Lydia do?'

Lydia appraises the boy. She pursues her lips. _Not bad_ , he knows she's thinking. _But too young._ 'I am a banshee. An omen of death,' she explains where the words are met with uncertain stares and looks thrown still-dead-Dick's way. 'My screams are sensible to supernatural beings. And particularly to vampires.'

'Why?' Caroline asks. 

Her eyes are shining with genuine curiosity. She makes him think of Kira. ~~She reminds of Allison~~. 

'Banshees recognise death. It calls to them and they call to it,' Stephan voices from his place on the floor. 'They act as a one way bridge between the living world and the dead one because their screams help supernatural beings to let go of this world to cross over to the otherside. Vampires are beings that belong to the dead world but live in the living one. We are unnatural. Should she scream,' he points towards Lydia,' we would be called immediately to the otherside.'

'You mean we would die,' Caroline resumes.

The Mystic Falls' gang stares at Lydia with varying degrees of disbelief. The Bennet Witch stares at her pensively.

Lydia plays with a strand of her hair. The perfect picture of the pretty, dumb teenager she never was. 'Yes, you would.'

'As for I,' Stiles finally answers, breaking the uneasy silence the Ripper's speech brought. 'I merely wanted to see the one my mother allied herself with.' His lips curl into a disappointed moue. 'I must say I am deeply disappointed. Is that the best she's got? A doppleganger protected by baby werewolves and vampires to help in bringing the family down?' He shakes his head in disbelief. 'I... am feeling quite insulted.'

The gang stares at him with gaping mouths.

Stiles loses his playful countenance and offers an acidic smile. 'Also, I think it is damn time the family and I reunite. It has been so long since I have seen my dear mother.'

*

Esther Mikaelson has not changed a bit. Proud figure. Angular face. Piercing eyes. Shrewd gaze. The only thing that differentiates her from the woman he remembers are her clothes.

(He remembers how she looked dead. Lying on the ground. Her eyes lost in an endless daze. Her chest opened with a giant bloody cavity.)

'Mietek. You are home.'

She welcomes him in the Mansion either 'lijah or Nik brought as if she is its owner. She opens her arms wide. Probably to embrace him.

Stiles looks dispassionately at her. 

She waits for several long moments until understanding dawns on her. She lets her arms fall.

(Stiles had known from the beginning that Niklaus had killed her. And he had not disapproved. Their mother had forced their father to murder them and turned them into vampires. And then, she had the nerve to disavow them and plan to murder them for the second time because they were 'monsters'. 

She is the reason it all begun.

She is the sole reason they are 'monsters'.)

'Your siblings are waiting for us in the first living room.' Esther presses her lips when she is once again met with his silence. She turns towards Lydia. 'And who is your friend?'

(Centuries spent watching his family ripping itself apart. Centuries feelings his father's breath on his neck. Centuries and yet, his mother continues to refuse on taking responsibility for her mistakes and rejecting the fault on them. Worse, she plans to stab them in the back _again_ and kill them _again_.

Was once not enough?!)

'Lydia Martin,' his friend replies. 'I have heard many things about you, Mrs Mikaelson.'

'Some of them good I hope,' Esther replies with a smile.

(What a bitch.)

'None at all,' Lydia answers placidly.

Esther's smile trembles.

*

Mietek/Mischief/Stiles loved his father. And no matter what he did or what he said, he could never bring himself to stop. Nor to hate the man.

Esther Mikaelson is another matter entirely.

_Klaus was not the only who woke up a vampire with hatred burning for the woman. It is one of the reasons the brothers got on so well._

*

Stiles finds his siblings in a living room. Klaus and Elijah are sitting next to each other on a sofa. Kol is sitting in a adjacent chair, twisting a glass of what Stiles smells to be whisky.

Rebecca is facing him in her own chair, her legs thrown over an arm. 

Finn is alive. His eldest brother is standing next to a window overlooking the great garden.

There are the picture of a relaxed family.

It is all a farce, of course.

Klaus and Elijah are standing on opposite ends on the sofa. Their bodies are tensed. They are most likely at odds about yet another subject. 

Kol is too still. Which is never good when you know his brother is always on the move. All theatrics and taunting words. He is like Stiles, unable to keep still. And like Stiles, you know there is trouble on the horizon when he is still and quiet.

Rebecca is avoiding everyone's gaze. 

Finn is standing apart of the family, like always.

'Finally,' Esther says as she crosses the room to stand in front of all her children. 'We are reunited. The family can finally be whole again.'

Kol sniffs. 'Yeah,' he mocks. The gesture earns him a glare from Esther. 'What a joy.'

'Kol, don't start.'

'Can't help it, Bekah. This whole 'reunion' is boring me to tears.' Kol looks at him. He glances briefly at Lydia but turns back to look at him when Stiles glares at him. He grins. 'Although, I must admit I am genuinely glad to see you again, brother dear.'

'Yes, as we all are.' Elijah stands up and turns to face him. He straightens his impeccable suit jacket. 'Imagine our surprise when we heard that Klaus did not put you away-'

'Put you away'? That's what you're calling being stabbed and thrown into a coffin?' Kol grinces.

'-but that you chose to leave the family.'

If Elijah expects Stiles to be ashamed of his behaviour, he is going to be sorely mistaken. 'You did so all the time, brother. You're the older one, should not have I followed in your footsteps?'

Kol giggles. 

Elijah pursues his lips. 'I always checked on each of you. Moreso, I always came back.'

Stiles glances briefly at Klaus's back. He stares back at Elijah and keeps words that would hurt from escaping his mouth. 'You did,' he says instead. 'And I chose not to. Sometimes the people closest to you can be the ones holding you back the most.' 

The whole family goes rigid at his words.

Stiles smirks. 'So I chose not to let you hold me back any longer and broaden my horizons.'

Rebekah stands up and rages against him. Stiles does not pay attention to his sister's words. Nor to Esther who is (not really) trying to calm her with soothing words. He looks at Kol and raises an eyebrow. Daring him to challenge him on his words when his brother left the family more than once.

Kol holds his gaze. Then he shrugs and relaxes against his chair. 'Whatever.'

When Elijah notices Stiles' distraction, he joins their sister in a chorus of admonishments and curses.

Stiles looks at Finn. Only to find his eldest brother already staring at him. 

His dear brother who he last saw as a corpse on the ground. Betrayed, once again.

Finn glances at their mother. Stiles narrows his eyes. Finn glances back at him. Stiles glares. Finn gives a small, invisible smile. His shoulders slump.

 _We need to talk_ , he mouths at him.

Stiles blinks at him in agreement.

'lijah and Bekah are still screaming at him. Next to him, Lydia is looking more and more annoyed. Stiles wants to laugh. He knows that face. If he does not stop his siblings, his friends is going to scream too and make their ears bleed.

'Enough,' he says.

Blessedly, his siblings stop.

Esther's scrutiny make him wants to barf. 

'You have a lot of nerve judging me on leaving when you left the family yourself.'

'We always came back,' Rebekah spits.

_And what's your excuse for what happened in New Orléans, dear sister?_

'And you think coming back only to leave again is better? How many times did you swear 'always and forever' only to step on that promise? How many times did you leave for some pitiful excuse of true love only to come back for what would be the last time and then leave again? How many promises did you break, Bekah? Yes, I left and it was the best decision I made in a long time. I am not going to take your righteous shit and be guilty about it just because you are incapable of leaving and be independent on your own.'

His sister gasps.

'And as for you,' he tells Elijah, 'if you really thought Klaus stabbed me then you really don't know us at all.' 

'My thought, exactly.'

Klaus stands from the sofa and finally looks at him.

Stiles stares back.

Klaus gives him a little, genuine smile. 'Look at you now. All grown up.'

Stiles's smile threatens to break his face in two.

(Esther keeps on looking at them and he hates **_hates_ **her.)

*

Klaus sits him next to him at the dinner table.

Stiles offers the seat on his other side to Lydia.

Elijah, the most behaved of the family, is the first to inquire _politely_ about her. 'I am afraid we were awfully disrepectful to you. We were so overwhelmed by our brother's return, we did not present ourselves.'

Lydia smiles sweetly at him. 'I already know who you are.'

Klaus eyes her speculatively. He looks at Stiles. Stiles looks back. His brother gives a tiny nod of acknowledgement and leaves her be.

'I am afraid we do not know who you are,' Elijah continues affably.

'Lydia Martin. I am a friend of your brother. I chose to accompany him when he decided to pay his respect to your father's resting place.'

Elijah (all of them, really) freezes. Esther presses her lips. Klaus glances at him.

'More like you dragged me here,' he whines.

'You were moping,' Lydia snaps. 'A useless mound of flesh and bones. Something had to be done.'

'And so you came to Mystic Falls from...?'

Stiles smirks. He can hear the many points of exclamation in his sister's question. The woman is dying from curiosity.

'Yes, we came to Mystic Falls,' Lydia answers flatly. 

Stiles hides his laugh in a cough. Klaus eyes him dubiously.

So what? He loves that girl and her smartass attitude to bits. 

'And you happened to be here,' his dearest friend continues,' so Stiles decided to come and visit you.'

'Visit,' Esther repeats. 'You mean that you do not intend on staying?'

_As if you planned on letting us live, you lying backstabbing traitorous piece of sh*t._

'No, I don't. I did not expect you all to be here. Least of all you. Last I heard you were dead.' _And it was wonderful, let's do that again._ 'And the rest of the family was scattered to the wind.'

'How would you know?,' his mulish sister snarks.

Stiles does not stop looking at Esther, even while talking to his sister: 'I keep tabs on all of you.' He gives a genuine grin. 'But now that I know you are all here, I plan on staying a couple more weeks. To spend some time with the family.'

Esther smiles like he imagines Judas did.

Stiles' smile deepens.

*

'Are we calling the rest of the pack?' Lydia asks him on the drive back to their hotel.

Stiles tappers on his phone. He wishes they had taken the jeep.

'No,' he breathes out. 'I don't want anyone to be put in more danger.'

'We are used to it,' his friend retorts.

'To danger, yes. To my family's special brand of craziness, no.'

Lydia chortles. 'It is true that your family is somehow madder than the Hales. And that includes Peter.'

'I figure Finn will come find me tonight. We will plan after his departure.'

'Aren't you wary about the doppleganger and her friends? What if they come to your family and tell them that you're all set on dying with them?'

'First: my siblings won't ever believe that lie. Second: I am not sure the Scoobie Gang believes it either. And lastly, I know my siblings. There is no way they'd engage in a talk with those people. Have you seen them?,' he glances at her. 'They're scared shitless.'

'Not all of them,' Lydia warns.

'But enough of them.'

'And if they go to your mother? Elena could go and tell her that you know.'

Stiles smiles sharply. 'Then I will have a long-over due private conversation with mother-dear.'

Lydia rolls her eyes and mumbles: 'reckless git. Be glad I'm here to look after you.'

'I am.'

*

As predicted, Finn comes to him later in the night. 

'Mother is planning to kill us,' he whispers in the motel's darkened corridor.

'I know.'

Finn does not look surprised.

'I plan to stop her,' Stiles adds. 'Esther got us killed once already. I refuse to let it happen again.'

Finn looks away from him.

Stiles crosses his arms and stares at him with concern. 'I love you, Finn. And I know being a vampire has been a torture for you. Which is why if you insist on dying, I won't stand in your way. It will hurt me, but I will let you. Because it is your choice to make.'

_Not the family's._

'But if you help Esther in her attempt to kill us,' his says, his voice hardening, 'you will find me. And you won't like it. Please. Do not force my hand, brother.'

*

Finn keeps mother away the following day.

Stiles and Lydia take the opportunity and reveal Esther's intentions to the rest of the family.

Elijah looks gutted. And still as beautiful and composed as ever. His brother is the picture of distinguished distress. The image of Despair. Stiles definitely thinks 'lijah should stop to do humanity and start his own career in Hollywood. It would be wicked.

Rebekah follows their brother in the land of Deep and Tragic Sorrows. Stiles pinches his lips and looks awkwardly at her. If there is someone who missed their mother (apart from Finn) it was her. Rebekah had been closest to Esther when they were still humans. To know that the woman plans to betray her again must be akin to Klaus daggering her. But worst. 

Kol laughs hysterically. Lydia observes his brother impassively. She looks at Stiles questionningly and gestures at his brother. Stiles shakes his head. 

'I should have known,' Kol laughs. 'Mother was always a snake.'

'Kol,' Elijah warns weakly.

'Come off it, Elijah. You can not disagree with me on that. Dear mother plans to kill us. Again. I can call her what I damn well please.'

His brothers keeps exchanging pleasantries. 

Stiles focuses on Klaus, who has kept silent until now. 'Klaus?,' he enquires.

Their siblings tense and turn to Klaus as well. 

'Nik?,' Bekah asks.

Klaus stays unmovable. His face is unreadable. 'Do you know what she has in mind?'

Stiles and Lydia exchange a look. 

'She is going to make you human again,' Lyds answer. 'She will use the blood of the doppleganger to do so.'

Stiles looks away from the hope that appears in his sister's eyes. 

'Elena,' Elijah says. Stiles nods. 'You have met her?'

Lydia makes a moue. 'Unfortunately.'

Stiles grimaces. 'Her and the Salvatore brothers.'

'Pitiful company,' his friend comments.

He could not agree more with her.

'Did she agree to it?' 'lijah presses.

'Yes, she did. Though her friends looked skeptic.'

Elijah looks introspective.

Stiles stares at him. He groans. 'For god's sake, 'lijah. Tell me you did not fell in love with her.'

Elijah looks embarrassedly away. 

Kol guffaws. 'Oh yes, he did. And just like always, Elijah was manipulated and left heartbroken.' 

'Kol, I will ask you to not make a mockery of me.'

'I would if you did not make a fool of yourself. When will you learn not to trust that face?!'

'Brothers,' Klaus calls. 'Now is not the time. What else did you learn?'

'She plans to bind us together. That way, when she kills one of us, she will kill all the others.'

'You mean Finn?'

Stiles has the mind to say: _Leave Finn out of it_. Yet, Finn is not entirely blameless in this affair. 'Finn was in agreement with her. He no longer is. Well,' he corrects, 'I think he still wants to die. But he does not intend to bring us down with him.'

His sister looks away from them. Her blond hair falls down and make a show of hiding her features. 'How can you be sure?,' she whispers.

'Because he came to us yesterday after dinner,' Lydia answers. 'And he revealed your mother's plan to Stiles. He would not have if he intended to follow the plan.'

'Or he feels sorry and wishes to obtain early redemption before committing his final sin,' Klaus growls.

And here comes the burning anger Stiles expected from the moment he opened his mouth and spilled the truth to them.

'Nik-' Rebekah tries to calm him.

'Why should not I rip his heart now before he betrays us?'

'Nik!' The rest of his siblings yell.

Klaus' eyes are glimmering. His voice makes them shudder when he howls: 'WHY SHOULD NOT I RIP **_HER_ HEART** OUT BEFORE SHE CAN KILL US!' 

'Because you already did so once,' Stiles drawls. 'Let others try.'

His siblings turn at once to face him with various degrees of befuddlement.

'What,' Rebekah tries, her face ping-ponging to Klaus and Stiles. 'What do you mean? We all know father was the one to kill mother.'

Elijah stares at Klaus as steadily as Kol is watching Stiles.

His brother's lips lift up and down. Tremble. As if Kol is hesitating between life-changing shock and hilarious laugh and is only waiting for Stiles's next words to choose.

Stiles does not disappoint. 'We lied,' he says without looking at Klaus. It is damn time the truth was out anyway. 'Klaus caught Esther binding his wolf side. He was already upset from his first shift. Learning both about her affair and her curse drove him to kill her.' Rebekah makes a chocked noise. Stiles shrugs. 'She had it coming.'

His sister jerks back. 'She is our mother,' she yells.

He stares dully at her. 'Yes, she is. She also organized our murder.'

'Only to protect us,' Rebeakah continues to defend her. 

Which makes _him_ angrier.

'And then she planned to kill us. Only because what she did to us upset her precious balance,' he spits. 

Lydia puts a hand on his left wrist. Stiles's anger dampens at the gesture.

He relaxes his jaw. 'If it had been me, I would have done the same.'

It is the time Kol choses to explode into loud giggles. Stiles shakes his head in amusement. 

Rebekah does not react. 'You know what gets to me?'

'No, but I expect you are going to tell me,' he says distractedly as he watches Kol fall down next to him on the sofa, still laughing uproariously.

'It is that you are angry at me for defending mother's actions when you never stopped doing the same for father.'

Kol's laugh peters out. 'Ohhhhhh.'

Stiles grinces his teeth.

Their older brothers, who have been suspiciously silent until now, stare at Stiles; Elijah with wariness, Klaus with studied careleness.

As if Nik could be disinterested about his love for their father.

'Father was always a hard man,' he croaks. Lydia tightens her hold on him. He has never been more relieved for his friend's support than he is now, not even during that mess with the nogitsune. 'We always knew that. He never shide from it. Esther played the loving mother when she lied to us for years. She pretended to comfort us when she was planning to kill us. She talked about protection when she turned us against our will. And then she shunned us when we did not become whatever she expected us to become.' Kol gives a grunt of agreement next to him. 'Now she is back and she is doing the exact same thing, playing with our feelings and our desire to be a family only to stab us in the back.' He stares uncomprehendingly at his sister. 'How can you not see that.'

Rebekah rejects his arguments with a wave of her hand. 'You always loved father more. It is as simple as that.'

Stiles can not disagree. 'I did. Still do. But I never blinded myself to the truth.' Rebekah presses her lips at the intended sting. 'Or what he could do. I do not forgive father for what he did. But I admit to be more angry at her actions than of his.' 

Stiles relaxes in his seat and presses closer to his brother. He lets Lydia's hold on his wrist comfort him. 

'And as no one would be willing to kill Esther except Niklaus, who already got his turn, I think I can safely say that I can do it.'

'Can you?' Elijah says for the first time since Stiles' ultimate reveal. 'Can you actually find it yourself to kill our mother?'

Stiles stares coldly at him. 'Esther stopped being my mother from the moment she forced my father to kill me.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> notes: 
> 
> *'The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways. I to die, you to live' is a direct quote from Socrate.
> 
> *I don't actually now the effects a banshee's scream would have on a vampire as vampires never appeared in Teen Wolf. But if Lydia's scream can blow up a human's head, I gather her scream could be powerful enough to kill vampires too and send them back to the otherside. Except for the Original Family, of course.
> 
> *The matter of Death with the Mikaelsons is always weird. Because they kept stabbing each other and betraying each other and (more often than not) hating each other. Yet, none of them wanted the others to die (not even Klaus who simply thought as stabbing his siblings with the white oaks as 'time out'). None of them wanted to die either.  
> Except Finn.  
> I remembered that Klaus said of him that Finn had spent more time 'sleeping'/dead than alive and I saw that moment in TO where Finn said staying 'dead' but aware had been torture for him.  
> And I really believe that actually dying instead of that in-between life and dead would be a relief for him. Which is why I make Stiles agree with him. Because he understands than it is Finn's life and -most of all- Finn's choice. Not the family that:  
> -kept on stealing his choices from him,  
> -has only been too glad to leave him to rot in his coffin.
> 
> (I'm being salty? I feel like I am so I'll stop there. See you next week :)


	3. A little honesty never hurt anyone. (and that's a bold bold lie)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following scene takes place directly after the big reveal :)  
> Like ten minutes later.

'Why did you keep it from me?,' his brother demands as he follows him in his study.

Klaus pouts at his brother. Elijah does not take the bait and keeps on staring at him, his arms crossed.

'I thought it better to keep the secret between Mischief and I.'

Elijah's features harden. 'You should not have forced our baby brother to keep that upsetting truth from being revealed.'

Klaus does not let the carefully chosen words of his brother pain him. Elijah knows full well Klaus would never force Mischief to do anything against his will. 'I did not force him, Elijah. Our dear brother was too happy to keep this secret. You heard him. He wanted to kill mother as much as I did. He still does.'

'It is not good for him,' Elijah rejects.

'He is a thousand years old,' he argues, getting quite annoyed. 'I think Mischief knows what is good for him better than you do.'

Elijah's disbelieving laugh takes them both by surprise. 'It never fails to surprise me. You are letting Mietek do anything he wants because you trust him to know what he is doing, yet you can't offer the rest of us the same trust.'

Klaus eyes his brother with disdain. 'It is because you have no idea what you are doing.' Elijah's features darken. 'Don't be offended, brother. You know I am right. Rebekah is always getting herself hurt in her desperate chase to find true love. Kol was never careful and his numerous massacres kept on attracting father's attention. Although,' he muses, 'now that father has been dealt with, I guess he can finally be free to do what pleases him.' Klaus shakes the idle thought away and continues his enumeration without letting his brother's stupefaction stop him. 'If left to his own devices, Finn would have found a way to kill himself permanently. Look what he just tried to do with mother. I am only trying to do what is best for them.'

'You really are going to let Kol do whatever he wants to?' Elijas asks dazzedly.

Klaus shrugs. A disturbing habit he already picked from his youngest brother. One which he needs to correct right now if he does not want to pass for a moody teenager instead of the leader he is to his minions.

'Yes, I am.'

Elijah studies him thoughtfully. 'And me? What are your reasons for keeping me out of the way?'

Klaus smirks. 'You know the one. The same one as Rebekah's. Love,' he mocks. Elijah clenches his jaw. 'Love was always your weakness. Tatia. Katerina. Elena. The odd paramour you picked along the way never bothered me but these women. _**That face**_. It will always be your downfall.'

He turns to the bar and serves himself a glass of old wine. 'The only worry I had about Mietek was his love for Mikael. But I also trusted that he would chose his siblings above his father, just like he used to when we were still human.' Klaus takes a sip of his drink. Then he turns to face his brother. Elijah looks dejected. 'And he never disappointed me. I can not say the same about you.'

*

'Where is Finn anyway?,' Kol asks once they're done listening on their brothers' conversation.

Kol, Rebekah and he had been listening avidly on their elders, a habit they took when they were still human (how do you think they knew about their stiff over Tatia?) and that they never gave up.

Stiles had been relying everything to Lydia, who had pretended to not be as interested as he knows she was.

(They'll definitely talk about it tonight. And he bets his friend will repeat that: 'you're whole family needs a shrink'. As if he does not know that already.)

He shrugs and relaxes against the sofa, obviously relishing in being squished between his (second) favorite sibling and his best friend. 

...To the displeasure of his sister, who he can see is pouting bitterly on her lone chair. He guesses she'd prefer if she was the one he was snuggling with. No matter what she says, Bekah can be as possessive and territorial as Nik.

'I don't know,' he admits. 'He texted that he was leading Esther somewhere.'

Rebekah raises a perfect eyebrow at his use of their mother's name but choses to not question him about it (yet).

'I think he'll keep on doing so for the next few days. To give us time to prepare.'

Kol looks dubiously at him. 'You're really sure he is on our side?'

'You don't have a lot of faith in your oldest brother,' Lyds comments as she taps on her phone.

Stiles can see that she is texting Kira -their fretting pack's calm spokesperson. 

'Should I?,' Kol eyes Lydia with skepticism. 'Until yesterday Mr. McBroody was all about killing us for the 'Greater Good',' he mimics.

'I bet you loved Harry Potter,' he muses.

Kol smirks delightfully. 'If old JK's world existed _on aurait fait un carnage*_ in slytherin house.'

Stiles full blown laughs. 

Rebekah rolls her eyes but does not bother to hide her fond grin.

'What house?,' Nik questions as he joins them in the living room.

The siblings all eye him with a mix of disgust and disbelief, with Lydia joining in with a Highly Judgemental Eyebrow.

Klaus looks blankly at them.

'I've been alive for a few months only and I already know more about pop culture than you,' Kol drawls with a dramatic shake of his head. 'What you choose to do with your life is so disappointing.'

Klaus stares back unamused. 'It is because you and I have very different opinions on what life should be.'

Kol scoffs. He extends his left hand to ruffle Stiles' hair, making him groan.

'Not the hair, Kol!'

'Baby bro understands,' he says, ignoring his words.

'Speaking of Mischief, I need to talk to him,' Klaus announces.

Which everyone takes as a polite way to say: 'get the hell out.'

His siblings comply without making (too much) noise. 

Lydia glances between him and Klaus.

'I'll tell you later,' he assures her.

She nods, squizzes his hand and leaves.

*

'Where were you all these years?,' his brother inquires as he takes Kol's seat next to him.

Stiles looks hesitantly at him. 'You sure you want to talk about it now? Should not we focus on Esther?'

He waits for his brother to say that they had not been planning anything until now. Instead Nik says: 'You will leave once Esther is defeated.'

Going for the big guns, then.

Stiles holds back a sigh and turns in the sofa to face his brother fully, crossing his legs on it. Nik does not blink. 'I will come back,' he assures him. Nik makes a face. 'I will,' he insist. 'Honest. And this time it won't take me six centuries. I already left my number in your room and gave it to Kol and Bekah. You can call me whenever. I won't disappear.'

Nik tilts his head to the side. 'Alright. It does not answer my question. Where were you?'

He shrugs. 'I traveled. Met people. Helped some of them. Raised hell and damnation on some others. I did things we used to do together.'

Stiles can see that under his pleasant figure, his brother is getting impatient. 'Why did you stay away then?'

He fidgets and looks away from him. 'Because I was angry at you. And at myself. I thought we needed some distance.'

'Six centuries is more than enough, Mietek,' he growls.

 _Werewolves_ , Stiles thinks fondly.

'I was not sure you wanted to see me,' he admits, swallowing heavily.

He brother sags against the sofa. Stiles eyes him warily. 

'I sent witches after you mere weeks after you left,' he reveals. 'And they have been searching for you ever since.'

Stiles grins proudly. 'I had a witch put a cloaking spell on me.'

'I gathered,' Nik smirks in return. 'She must have been very powerful for it to have lasted all this time,' he adds with a gleam in his eyes.

Stiles smiles mischievously. ' _They_ are a family of very powerful witches. And we have been friends for quite some time. Which means that I won't allow you to threaten them into doing your bidding.' 

Nik pouts. Stiles giggles. 

'I always want to see you,' his brother adds solemnly.

Stiles chokes on his breath.

Klaus rises and pats him on the left shoulder, _smug_. 'I am glad you are back, baby brother.'

'I'm not a baby,' he calls weakly as his brother leaves.

Klaus only laughs.

*

'I like Lydia,' his sister claims the following day, as she bounces towards him with a huge smile, linking her right arm with his left.

She has been staring at Lyds and him the whole day, as they prepared several plans against Esther. Which means that Stiles also noticed his sister's eyes getting more and more narrowed, as well as her mood going from pleasant to sulky to snappish and rude. Rebekah is not at all pleased by his friend's existence, nor his close friendship with her but jealous and irritated.

He snorts. 'No, you don't. It's alright, she does not like you either.'

Rebekah glares. He finds it adorable. 'Why not?'

Stiles grins teasingly. 'She does not have a high opinion of my family.'

'She does not know us and she dares to judge us?,' she seethes.

Stiles chuckles. 'She knows me. And everything she knows about the Mikaelsons, she gets from me.'

'What do you mean?'

He pats her hands. 'I mean that you do not like her for the same reason that she does not like you. Jealousy.' Rebekah sneers. 'I love you but I was away for a long time. And when I come back it is with someone you don't know and that I obviously hold dear. You feel threatened. And you're jealous. If it makes you feel better, Lydia feels the same way.'

And she thinks the petty squables should have been resolved a long ass-time ago and that Stiles did well in leaving his family before he could drown in his sorrows. Something that he definitely won't share with his siblings.

'But Bekah, we're thousand years old. It is high time you learn to share.'

'Mietek.'

'"Don't Mietek"-me. I am a grown man. And I am capable of making my own choices. I love Lydia. She is a dear friend to me. And I do not wish to see her harmed. Or any of my other friends.'

'Are you threatening me?,' his sister asks in disbelief.

'I love you Bekah,' he says truthfully. 

Because **he does**. 

He loves this whole family (except for Esther) no matter what they did and keep doing to each other. 

'But if you feel that having no news from me in centuries is the worst that I can do, then you need a reality check.'

'I am not the one who likes to tear loved ones apart,' his sister grinces.

'You are as jealous and territorial as Nik. Don't pretend otherwise. I warned him already, and I am warning you now. I am serious, Bekah.'

'If you love your new friends so much then why don't you leave?!,' she grinces.

'I will once Esther is done for.' Rebekah looks betrayed. Stiles rolls his eyes. 'I will keep in contact. You could even come and visit. I learned from Kol that you've taken on being a high school student. We could walk the halls of Hell together.' Rebekah still looks sour. 'You know, you would actually like Lydia if you tried to get to know her.'

'What would a dumb high school teenager have in common with me?'

'Fashion. Terrible tastes in boyfriend. Archaic latin.' Rebekah raises her eyebrows in surprise. 'She adores mathematics. She is a certified genius. And were not you interested in science in the seventeenth century?'

His sister frowns in confusion. 'How did you-?'

Stiles smirks and taps her nose playfully. 'I told you I kept tabs on you.'

*

Once everyone is updated and in the mind to fight back, they plan for their mother's demise.

Mietek stays suspiciously silent. 

At the end of yet another meeting, already the fifth in three days, Elijah follows his brother and his friend to their car. 

'You're not obligated to do it.' 

Mietek stops. Miss Martin gives them a wary glance but continues to approach her car. Elijah and his brother watch her leave. 

Mietek is tensed next to him.

'No one is forcing you. If you can not do it, don't. Someone else will.'

His little brother looks at him sideways. 'Like you?' 

Elijah studies him carefully. 'If I must. I will do what it takes to protect our family.'

Mietek scoffs. 'Come off it, 'lijah. You'd never be able to do it.'

'I would if it meant you would not have to,' he retorts honestly.

Mietek turns fully to face him. 'But nobody is forcing me. I want to do it,' he says with a pause between each word. 

Elijah tilts his head in confusion.

His brother shakes his head. 'You still consider her family. You all do. Even Nik does. I don't. I moved on.'

'You can't move on from family. If it was that easy we all would have left our feelings for father behind.'

Mietek gets tenser and Elijah realises his mistake. 'I'm sorry, brother. I did not mean-'

'Yes, you did.' His brother closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. 'And I get it. Father never treated any of you the way he did me.'

'I am sorry it came to that,' he responds honestly.

Elijah barely gave a thought to his father when he passed away. However, he remembers acutely the grief he felt a millenium ago when his father killed them and then decided to hunt their resurrected selves. He mourned the man he had loved and called his father. He may not be sorry that the threat Mikael posed is gone, but he is sorry his little brother has to go throught that pain.

Mietek gives him a curt nod. 'It's different in that I stopped associating Esther with the word 'mother'. It's different in that I stopped seeing her as part of the family a long time ago.'

He sighs when Elijah keeps staring strangely at him. 'I know you don't get it. We're Mikaelsons. We're a family even when we'd be better off killing each other.'

Elijah winces but can not find anything to say to contradict his brother's words.

'I guess I'm the exception. Because I can move on from that. And I did.'

And Elijah really hopes Niklaus is not listening in on their conversation. Otherwise, his paranoid self will make its grand return and Mietek won't ever be able to leave Mystic Falls and live his life.

'Esther has not been my mother for a millenium,' his little brother continues. 'Not because she was dead but because of what she did to us. It is why I never mourned. Why I never wasted a moment regretting her presence the way Finn and Bekah did. The way you did.' 

Elijah looks away for a second, feeling his brother's words resonate deep within himself.

'And it's why I won't hesitate in killing her. And why I won't regret it.'

Elijah thinks back to the conversation Niklaus and he had a few days prior, where Elijah got angry at his brother for forcing Mietek from revealing the truth about their mother's death: ' _He wanted to kill mother as much as I did. He still does._ '

'Is this why you never told us Niklaus was the one to have killed mother?'

Mietek stares at him guardedly. 'Yes,' he says.

 _Lie_.

*

'I met your brother,' he hears a voice call from behind him.

Klaus stops on the sidewalk and turns to face _her_. He smiles charmingly at her, all dimples out. 'You are going to be more specific, love.'

Caroline raises her eyebrows. 'You know the one. _Mietek_.'

He twines his fingers together to keep them from making their way into her golden wispy locks.

'And what did you think about him?'

'He and his friend are... Interesting,' she settles on.

Klaus nods. It is one way of describing his brother and his dear friend. 'And?'

Caroline is not smiling but she can not keep the twinkles from shining in her eyes. It elates him. 'He definitely seems saner that the rest of you,' she teases.

Klaus lets out a small chuckle. 'He is,' he acquieces.

'How long is he staying?'

Klaus puts a hand on his heart. 'Love. You are not using your charms on me for you're little friends' curiosity. Are you?'

Because if she is, Damon will find himself without his spleen.

Carolines grimaces. 'Not this time. I'm the curious one. Although Bonnie is very interested in Lydia. She seems to have developped a crush on her banshee abilities.'

'Well, if you are really curious, I guess I could tell you more. Care to join me for a drink?'

Caroline pretends to be disinterested only for a beat -which is less than usual. He is making progress- before she agrees.

His talk with his _delightful_ brother can wait a few hours.

*

'It's going nicely,' Lydia comments during their daily phone call to the pack.

(They've already called their respective parents. His dad had been badly hiding his growing worry. Stiles ought to seek Jordan on him.)

Scott frowns worriedly. 'Are you sure?,' he insists. He looks at him and Stiles knows his friend is two-seconds short from pulling the puppy-dog eyes at him. 'Bro. You know you can tell me anything.'

He knows. Telling the Pack about his origins may have felt like a dentist of the Middle Ages pulling teeth from him, but their fast acceptance and the heady relief he felt afterwards were worth it.

'I know, bud,' he assures him. 'But I promise you everything's fine. We're making progress with my siblings. The matter should be wrapped up in a few days. Two weeks at most.'

Scott's eyes are shining.

Stiles hears someone growling in the background and soon enough Malia is pushing Scott from the picture. Lydia levels her eyes skyward.

'I don't like it,' their packmate comments.

'You don't have to like it,' Lydia retorts.

Malia is gently pushed to the side. Kira's face appears on the screen next to hers.

'I'll make sure everyone stays in Beacon Hills and causes no trouble so you can stay focused,' she reassures them.

Someone scoffs behind the girls.

''No trouble?,'' a male voice pipes in. Probably Liam. 'We don't cause trouble. Trouble finds us.'

'Shut up.' Derek takes the phone from Malia, who growls at him. 'Continue to update us. And if you think something is not going according to plan, don't wait until you're dead to call us.'

'Your sentence makes no sense,' Lydia replies blandly.

'We will, Sourwolf. Scout's honor.'

Derek gives him his best man-in-pain face. 'You're no scout.'

Lydia hangs up before he can flail and shouts: 'I could be!' 

*

The following day finds Klaus Mikaelson still in a good mood (which only causes his sister to look at him suspiciouly and to ' _creep out_ ' Kol). The lasting effects of his pleasant evening with Caroline are still lingering. 

It is when he decides to settle an argument he had planned for several days.

He does not meet anyone else on his way to his brother and smirks to himself when he finds him alone in an unused room.

'How is the little betrayer?,' he inquires cheerfully.

His oldest brother's back tenses and he turns, a deep frown on his face. 'You're one to talk.'

Klaus can already feel his agreeable mood cracking. 'Excuse you?'

'You heard me,' Finn replies without an inch of shame on his figure.

'Yes, I have,' he retorts, with a smile showing too much teeth. 'Yet your meaning is lost on me.'

'You are angry at me for my recent decisions,' Finn says, careful of the words he uses even if their mother could not possibly hear them from her place on the otherside of the mansion.

'I am. And as I was feeling merciful I thought I would come to you and allow you to repent for your betrayal.'

'I am angry at you for putting me in that coffin,' Finn declares instead, verbally batting his words away.

Klaus clenches his fists and urges himself to keep calm. 'I thought we had settled this particular argument centuries ago.' 

Finn merely blinks at him. 'You only awakened me to bring Mietek back. And then you talked and called it over. And then you pulled me back in it.'

'Because you were searching for ways to get yourself killed,' he spits.

'It is my life, Niklaus. What I decide to do with it is up to me.'

'Not when it endangers this whole family,' he yells. 

Finn's impassive face finally starts to crack to show his inner turmoil. Klaus does not realize he's getting closer to him as he talks.

'Yes, because it is so much better to stab us and hide us away. Do you have any idea what it feels like? No, of course not. How could you? You're always the one holding the dagger.'

'Is that it? Do you want to stab me too and leave me in a coffin?!'

Finn looks away from him, looking resignated. 'You'd only wake up more vindictive than ever.'

'Then what do you want?!?,' he shouts scornfully.

'I want to find peace. Mother offers me that.'

Klaus feels a bitter laugh about to spill from his lips. _'Mother_ ,' he spits, 'does not want us to find peace. She want go be rid of us.'

His brother continues to speak over him, his gaze lost in a daze. 'Do you know that everytime I close my eyes, I go back to that black horizon? An endless, hopeless pool of nothing that you forced me into. A place where I was abandonned and forgotten. By you,' he says, leaving his memories to focus back on him and pierce him with his eyes. 'By everyone in this family.'

Klaus clenches his jaw. He studies his brother more carefully than he ever did before. 

It feels like he is seeing Finn for the first time.

He does not like it. The feeling leaves him wrong footed. 

'I want to die,' his brother announces plainly. 'So I can finally be free of that place.'

This conversation is not at all going the way he had expected it to.

'You've had centuries. Why have not you said anything until now?,' he demands, trying to regain a hold of this discussion.

'I tried,' Finn pushes throught his teeth. 'But none of you heard me. None of you were willing to listen. Except Mietek. Our brother understands my desire and he is not getting in my way.'

'I am interrupting something?,' said-brother asks. 

Klaus and Finn startle. Klaus takes several steps back.

'None at all,' he says, sending a shaky smile Mischief's way.

His baby brother looks dubiously at him. 'I feel like I should be interrupting.'

'We were merely talking.'

Mischief rolls his eyes. _Brat_ , he thinks fondly. 'Sure you were,' he drawls. He turns to Finn and looks worriedly at him. 'You okay there?'

Finn stares quietly at him. Their brother, alongside Elijah, was always able to communicate best with Finn. Probably because they were the only ones to have the patience.

Klaus bats this thought from his mind. It has no true reason to be here. Not after that talk. It seems that he has misdjuged Finn for too long to read him correctly.

Finn glances at him then turns back to Mietek. 'I won't help you kill mother.'

Klaus snarls. Mischief races to stop him from rushing at Finn and it is only the reminder that his youngest brother is not as powerful as him that keeps him from throwing him away to get at Finn.

'Calm yourself,' he hears Mischief say.

He can not. They're finally rid of their father and yet everything is falling apart; mother has come back to kill them, Finn is helping her, Finn is not who he thought him to be.

'I won't,' Finn continues. 

Klaus presses harder against his brother's flesh, careful not to hurt him.

'But I won't stand in your way.'

This gets him to finally stop fighting Mischief. 'What.'

'You heard me. Don't force me to repeat myself.'

Finn is gone before Klaus can blink.

Mischief let's him go. He eyes him stonily. 'I don't know why you're surprised that he'd help us.'

'You mean you knew?'

His brother sighs and looks at him with frustration.

Klaus feels his stomach twist. He has to fight the urge to close on his brother and embrace him until he knows Mischief won't vanish from his life again.

Too much is going on and he finds that he can not handle it. He feels the sudden urge to leave the mansion and Mystic Falls and rip into bodies until whole cities are left crumbling.

But Mischief would be disappointed and would surely leave again without coming back.

'You'd know too if you tried,' his brother replies after a beat.

'I'm trying,' he snaps. 'It's all I have been doing the last centuries.'

_Since you left._

Mischied shakes his head and looks back at him. 'Not with Finn, you're not.'

'Finn allied himself with mother to get us killed,' he reminds him forcefully.

Finn did not just want to die, he allied himself with their mother to take them **all** down with him. Klaus can not forget that. Mischief should not either.

'Finn might have thought differently if he were not so willing to die. And he might not want so hard to die if he had not spent so many time in a coffin.'

'So you're saying it's my fault.'

'I'm saying that we've all made mistakes and that we have to learn how to live with them and their consequences. I'm saying that we all have to learn how to be a family again.'

Klaus bites his tongue and refrains from snapping at him. It is not Mischief's fault if Finn is so infuriating.

'I'm saying: try harder.'

*

Finn disappears.

Stiles takes it as his cue and goes to kill Esther.

(He does not bother to tell his siblings, even if he knows that it will make them angry.

It is better if he does this without them. He knows that whatever they say they are not as keen on killing Esther as they were their father.)

*

He succeeds.

It is very anticlimatic. Lydia stuns Esther by screaming bansheely at her while Stiles (helped with spells his witchy friends gifted him with) avoids the spells she throws and stabs her with a white oak. 

And then she's dead. Back to being a desiccated corpse on the floor.

Stiles finds it very cathartic.

*

'How do you feel?,' his friend asks while they're watching the body burn in the woods.

'Better.'

*

He avoids Rebekah (with her red eyes), Elijah (with his carefully blank mask) and Finn (who is looking despondent) and leaves them to mourn in peace in the living room.

He goes to Kol's room and lets his brother's over excitment and plans for schemes rush over him like a comforting blanket.

Nik is nowhere to be found. 

*

He is eating fries two days later, watching Kol egg on Lydia to tell him more about banshees -because his brother never mingled with them and does not know a lot about them-, when someone settles in the seat in front of his.

Make that that two people.

'I heard your mother is dead,' the Bennet witch casually says.

The blond vampire gnaws on her lower lip. 'My condoleances.'

'Yes, of course. My condoleances,' the witch belately replies.

Stiles stifles a laugh. 'Don't bother. I was the one to kill her. Never been happier in my life.'

Caroline, the one his brother keeps gushing about to Stiles' never ending embarrassment, tilts her head. 'Congratulations?'

He beams at her. 'Thank you.'

'Does it mean you're leaving?,' Bonnie -he thinks her name is- continues flatly, looking around for the rest of his siblings.

She ought not to bother. None of them followed Kol, Lydia and him to Mystic Grill, too much focused on their own business (or mourning on Finn's part, as Bekah and 'lijah seem to have already bounced back from their grief).

'Yes, it does. I have a life outside of my family. And I never intented to stay in Mystic Falls,' he adds with a sneer.

Caroline nods vigorously. 'I know what you mean.'

'Are you going to cause trouble to us in the meantime?,' her friend asks stonily.

He remembers that Katherine met the two of them (even if she only told him their names, never where she had met them). It takes him less than a second to guess that she must have liked Caroline and been repulsed by Bonnie. It makes him grin fondly.

Once this is over, he shall call her and invite her to visit Beacon Hills. It has been too long since he last saw his old friend.

Stiles should also talk about the matter of her 'hunt' to Nik. Now that the brothers are back to speaking to each other (instead of Stiles forcefully keeping him at harm's way) it should not be too difficult to talk Nik into letting go of his endless chase. 

'I won't,' he finally answers. He smirks. 'I don't cause trouble, trouble finds me,' he quotes his pack.

Bonnie studies him before she nods decisively. She rises from her seat and goes to rejoin his brother and Lydia, who's huffing loudly and calling Kol 'a tenacious, annoying idiot.'

Stiles looks at Caroline. 'You're not leaving?'

The girl smiles cheekily at him. 'Not when I'm sure you have embarrassing stories about Klaus and Rebekah.' Stiles smiles back at her with mirth. She widens her eyes in anticipation. 'Willing to share?'

 _Hell yes_.

*

He spends a couple more days with his family, basking in their attention, gorging himself with the long-forgotten feeling of **family** and _togetherness_ that only the Mikaelsons can make him feel.

Family can be Pack but Pack can't be family.

And his pack is not like his family -thank god for small mercies.

*

'Are you sure we can't make you stay?' Kol asks him as he squishes himself at his side on the chair made for one.

'He has a home to come back to,' Lydia snaps.

Lydia has been nothing but helpful, comforting and agreeable during their stay. Yet, even she has her limits and she found it with the Mikaelson's heavy angst. Stiles knows she feels stiffled and uncomfortable in Mystic Falls and only stayed this long for him.

He sees Rebekah spinning around to face Lydia, an argument on her lips. He coughs. His sister turns back to face him. One look at him and she deflates.

'He does,' she concedes.

Lydia eyes her warily. Her shoulders relax a bit at her admission. 'You can come visit. Beacon Hills is a supernatural hubbub. Vampires won't make anyone blink.'

'Beacon Hills,' Elijah repeats. Right. Stiles had forgotten Lydia and he never revealed their town's name. 'I have heard of it. There is a werewolf pack, is not there?'

Lydia and him exchange an amused glance.

'You can say that,' he comments.

*

'I guess this is really goodbye,' Rebekah pouts.

Stiles rolls his eyes. 'Not forever Bekah. You have my number. You have my email. You know where I live. I promise I won't act like a jerk anymore.'

'You better,' she admonishes. 

He grins and wraps him arms around her. She hugs him back fiercely.

'Nik was right, you know,' she whispers in his ear. 'You have grown up.' 

Stiles hugs her tighter. 

(He won't reveal that he knows about her little betrayal. Nor will he tell Nik. Some things are better kept secret.)

He notices said-brother staring at them from above their sister's head. He smirks.

Nik grins -full dimples on- and chortles.

'Alright,' he says. 'But I'm calling you everyday and you better answer.'

'Or we'll rain hell and fire on you,' his sister adds, her head against his torso and her voice muffled.

Kol nods empthatically while Elijah stares solemnely at him.

'I'll make sure he does,' Lydia primly answers.

*

Finn comes with him and Lydia to Beacon Hills. When Stiles asks for the umpteenth time if his brother is sure of his choice while Lydia drives them back home, he is met with stony silence.

Stiles was never a fan of silence. He turns around in his seat and meets Finn's impassive eyes. 'Well?'

'If death can no longer be found, I will chose the second option.'

'Which is to be far away from your siblings,' Lydia concludes. 'I do not blame you. No offence but they are a handful.'

Finn smirks. 'None taken. I would be the first to complain about them.'

'Ouch,' his says.

'Except you, obviously,' his friend retorts smartly.

'Except you,' his brother agrees. 'The second option is far away from our siblings and away **with you**.'

If blood was still circulating in his veins, Stiles would be blushing.

(He is profoundly relieved that Finn does not hate him for Esther's death. But his brother choosing to leave _with him_? What he feels is ineffable.)

*

Finn meets his father. 

The Sheriff is stiff and awkward and wary. Stiles looks fondly at him.

Finn catches his gaze. Then he gives him a tiny nod of acknowledgement. His own way of accepting Noah Stilinski. 

Finn Mikaelson extends his hand: 'I am honored to meet you, sir.'

His father's shoulders relax. 'Me too, kid,' he replies while shaking his hand.

His brother rises an eyebrow but does not comment on his father's chosen words.

Everyone is a kid in the Sheriff's eye, even thousand-years old vampires.

Stiles would know.

*

As promised, Stiles keeps in contact with his siblings.

He badgers Finn into doing the same, to slowly start building back bonds long loosened.

_Bonus_ :

Kol is the smart one who nobody ever listens to. He is a bit like Cassandra from the Greek myths.

It always left Mietek incredulous. Yes, alright, his brother takes the word 'fun' to levels never reached before and twists it left and right, but it does not mean his brain cells are fried nor that it makes him a moron. Kol is just as smart as him and Mietek always listens to him.

So, when Kol calls him mere months after his last visit to Mystic Falls to tell him about that mess with the Cure and a witch guy named Silas, Mietek tells the rest of the family to _shut the fuck up_ and listen _to their brothe_ r.

*

The Scoobie gang tries to kill Kol. 

Klaus tells him they failed only because Caroline decided that killing an Original might make the rest of the family more murderous than threatened and willing to leave Mystic Falls. So, she told him everything. 

Smart girl. Stiles approves. Maybe he can gift her one of the many magical relics he has acquired over the years to protect her from the murderous bullshit that goes on in her town. 

Stiles breaks his phone when he hears the news.

He leaves for Mystic Falls the next morning.

(Finn may be dragging his feet, but he still agrees to come with him.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Yes, I am aware that Esther's death might be disappointing but:  
> -I was never one to write big fights,  
> -Stiles did not really care how his mother died so long as she died.
> 
> *No, none of the siblings are around when she's killed.
> 
> *'on aurait fait un carnage' is french for 'we would have made a carnage' which in french can both be read as: 'it would have been hilarious' and 'it could have turned bloody.'  
> (I'm french so I don't know if it's the same for you, sorry if this explanation sounds a bit condescending ^^')
> 
> *btw: yes, the 'family of witches' that helped hide Stiles from his family is the Travellers. Yes, Katherine's daughter is among them but at the time she's still pretty pissed at her mother so she has not revealed her true identity to her yet. Stiles does not know either, otherwise he would have told his friend and try to help her bond with her daughter :)
> 
> *Rebekah, Elijah and obviously Finn are the ones touched by and actually grieving for Esther's demise.  
> Kol could care less, Klaus is just glad that that particular threat is gone (and left the mansion the following night to run as a wolf to expulse the excess of worry he felt when he learned his favorite brother had gone without him to face her), Stiles is 'better'.  
> Rebekah and Elijah 'bounce back' easily because:  
> -Rebekah rapidly realises that if Esther had exited the confrontation alive her baby brother would have not (and she loves him more),  
> -Elijah is a pragmatic guy. 
> 
> Finn is Finn, which means it will take him longer to get better.  
> He honestly does not hold his brother responsible for this mess. He would not have let his mother die and gone with him to BH otherwise. 
> 
> *Yes, Stiles succeeds in convincing Klaus to give up on his chase of Katherine. 
> 
> *Katherine does visit BH but only stays two days:  
> 'What do you find so entertaining in that town?,' she asks, disgust heavy in her voice.  
> Stiles chuckles. 'It's not the town. It's the people.'  
> His friend rolls her eyes in annoyance. 'I'm going back to New York. Call me when you're done playing at Red Riding Hood.'
> 
> *A few quotes from Teen Wolf, The Vampires Diaries/The Orgininals, Doctor Who and Charmed :) 
> 
> ***It is now that the story is over that I realise I completely forgot to include Klaus' minions o.O  
> Well, let's just imagine Stiles met some of them in the background, compared them to his pack and left while laughing silly to himself (leaving the minions to stare at his back and each other bewildered.  
> 'Mikaelsons,' one of them would comment flatly.  
> ...leaving the rest to nod in unison.)
> 
> Thank you all for reading :)


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